unexplained mutations
by wild wolf free17
Summary: Just a few drabbles about those poor freaks. -AU, gen, slash-
1. Liar

**Title**: Liar

**Fandom**: X-Men movieverse

**Disclaimer**: Not my characters. Just for fun.

**Warnings**: AU for X3

**Pairings**: implied Pyro/Iceman

**Rating**: PG13

**Wordcount**: 620

**Point of view**: second

* * *

You swore to burn the world if he died.

He's dead now. You always were a liar.

o0o

The first time you met, he smiled at you. He asked questions and actually listened to your answers. He touched your arm, your shoulder, got in your space and laughed with you.

You'd always hated people who got too close, but him? It seemed right.

He grinned, inviting you to join the joke, and you grinned back. His smile was warm, kind; he wanted nothing more than to make you laugh.

And you'd never known anyone like that. Your whole life people had wanted things from you. Nothing was given without the expectation of something back.

But he was different. Middle class kid from a nice neighborhood, he'd never known want. He'd never felt true hunger or true pain. He'd never felt the level of fear you lived in for years. He was happy, with plenty of love to give.

You still don't know why he chose to give it to you.

o0o

The first few months were the hardest. You looked over your shoulder constantly, waiting for the demands to come. You held your tongue, afraid of being cast back onto the streets.

But the harsh words and rough touches never came. Slowly your confidence swelled and grew; and with it, your power.

The other students had watched you, trying to guess your skill, but you held the knowledge close, scared of being pushed away.

That fear left you and you let your fire flow.

And they were impressed, correct in being so. The professor never said, but you instinctively knew you were among the more powerful at the school.

o0o

You swore to burn down the world if Bobby died.

Never aloud, and you told no one—but in your heart, you made the promise. He was your first friend, the only person in the world you care about.

And he's dead now, killed by humanity. Killed by the very people he wanted to help.

The irony tastes bitter on your tongue and you almost choke on the regret.

o0o

You went with Magneto because he had something Xavier would never offer.

It was a mistake, and you knew it—but the choice was made.

You left the X-Men, left Marie—left Bobby. You knew he wouldn't understand, but you also knew it had to be done. It hurt to leave him behind. Hurt so much you could barely breathe.

But the fire still swirled in you, seeking release. Release you could never find with Xavier and his children.

If you stayed, the school would eventually burn. You could not let that happen.

o0o

You're a liar and he's dead. There's nowhere to go, nothing to do.

The X-Men are retreating. So's Magneto and his brotherhood. Humanity found a way to even the playing field and there's no good or bad guys anymore.

Bobby lies on the ground, eyes wide in shock. You're discounted as a threat and the soldiers run past you. You can only kneel beside him, silent and still.

Inside you, something shrieks. Outwardly, you do not move.

The professor had always said humans needed protection.

You raise your eyes and watch them move around you.

Inside you, something snarls.

You reach out and touch his blond hair. So soft. You wonder why you never told him how you felt. How much you needed his smile.

You swore to burn down the world if he died. He's dead now.

You always were a liar, and inside you something unfurls. Fire encases you but leaves him unharmed.

You are a liar. But not in this.

Fire roars and reaches for the sky, you and Bobby in the middle.

The professor was right.


	2. the seduction

**Title**: the seduction

**Fandom**: X-Men movies

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; just for fun.

**Warnings**: spoilers for the movies; takes place between X2 and X3

**Pairings**: Magneto/Pyro

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 125

**Point** **of** **view**: second

**Notes**: the title is a reference to the commentary of X2

* * *

_I have survived hatred, young Pyro, and I do what I do so that your children will not live in fear._

His skin is calloused, rough against your face, his hand cupping your cheek.

_I will not let such a horrific thing happen again, and I need your help._

His lips press against your forehead. You can't remember anyone ever kissing you so gently, so loving, before.

_Will you help me, Pyro? We can save our people, if we work together._

You smile up at him, the greatest mutant in the world, the most powerful man you've ever known, and know he loves you. He needs you; he chose you.

_Of course, Magneto_, you answer. _Anything_.

He smiles and softly kisses your lips.


	3. seeing red again

**Title**: seeing red again

**Fandom**: a mix of "X-Men: Evolution" and the movie 'verse

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; just for fun. Title from Chevelle.

**Warnings**: none

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 315

**Point** **of** **view**: third

* * *

He can't remember other colors. He knows the sky is blue and grass is green, but he doesn't know what they look like. Can't remember anything but red.

He doesn't tell anyone, but it hurts when the beams shoot out of his eyes. It's an aching burn, and the power is fueled by _him_—by his will and strength, by his life.

And he hates how out-of-control he feels when he doesn't have his glasses or visor, when the rays shoot unchecked. He can't shut them off, can't make them stop, can't do anything but close his eyes and become blind.

Only the professor's special-made glass and his own skin are impervious to the power. Only the professor's visor can change the intensity. Without that glass, he is almost completely helpless.

He doesn't understand his so-called gift, the curse that makes him unique. He spent years with his eyes closed—blind and trapped, unable to do so much for himself. And even now, it is so easy to take him out of a fight: remove the visor and he's as dangerous to friends as to foes.

He can't remember any color but red. Can't recall clear blue or deep green, royal purple or bright yellow or flaming orange. He sees only red or nothing—and even the blackness of his eyelids is tainted crimson.

Jean tells him her favorite color is garnet. He doesn't say how much he loathes it.

She pities him. They all do. Even the ones most changed by their powers—Hank, Kurt, Evan—can still appreciate a rainbow. They can look up at the sky and see endless blue. Or a sunset. Hell, even plain old _grass_.

But he can only see red. Blood. Jagged and sharp, burning and biting—he misses the sky.

He misses waking up in the morning, opening his eyes, and _seeing_.

He hates the color red.


	4. brothers in blood

**Title**: brothers in blood

**Fandom**: _Wolverine Origins_ movieverse

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; just for fun.

**Pairings**: none stated

**Rating**: PGish

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Wordcount**: 250

**Prompt**: Victor/Jimmy (or Sabertooth/Wolverine) doesn't have to be a pairing, but interaction of some kind would be wonderful

* * *

He doesn't let Jimmy out of his sight in the first few months after the island. Stupid kid almost got himself killed there, by Stryker's pet, and Victor can't trust him not to do something suicidal while he doesn't remember.

Over a hundred years, they were together, brothers against the world, had each other's backs against anything, and then Jimmy got his dander up, got tired of the hunt—left Victor alone. Just left. Left to go be normal and shit, like what he'd had with Victor didn't even matter.

The thought of those first weeks, when it was just Victor and the team with no Jimmy, no one who understood the bloodlust—it still makes Victor snarl. Want to bash someone's teeth into their face, carve them up and howl. Jimmy was the only one who could ever call him back from the edge, from sliding over into madness and staying, and Jimmy left.

But now he's not Jimmy, and he's not even really Logan. He's like a cub, brand-new and curious. He's instincts and abilities, with no knowledge of who and what he was, what he did. Victor could slink right in and teach him how to be what he should have been. He wants to. Jimmy will be with him again, like they were in the beginning, both no more than cubs.

He's still so angry, though. Jimmy would need a deft touch, soft, and Victor has never been that.

So he watches, guards his brother, and waits.


	5. fire next time

**Title**: fire next time

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: AU for X2

**Pairings**: Bobby/Rogue, implied Bobby/John

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 160

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: What if Bobby had followed at Alkali Lake?

* * *

His head is still cloudy and hurting, and Rogue is gasping, clutching his hand through her glove. "Bobby?" she murmurs, a barely there whisper.

What is he doing? Letting John go out there alone—how long can he keep up the heat when the temperature is so close to freezing? John has no idea how to take care of himself.

"Bobby!" Rogue says again.

He forces himself to his feet, swaying for a moment. Rogue stares at him. He smiles sadly and can't think of any words to make this better. But a couple years of chastely staring at each other can't make up for over six of fire and ice clashing, of having each others' backs, of the passion John infuses into everything he does.

(When John attacked those cops outside his house, it was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. He ignores what that means.)

"Bobby," she says.

"Goodbye," he responds and follows John into his element.


	6. not the hero

**Title**: not the hero

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: spoilers for _Origins: Wolverine_

**Pairings**: none stated

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 350

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: Wade/author's choice, "I don't know my family. What about you?"

**Notes**: All I know about Wade is from wikipedia and the movie.

* * *

He finds the kid about a dozen years after that fucking island and fucking Stryker and fucking Wolverine teaming up with fucking Sabertooth.

Not that he's bitter. He's got lots of nifty new skills and everyone thinks he's dead, so maybe he did come out the winner. Whatever. Moving on.

Anyway. He finds the kid hustling in Los Angeles, trying to cheat at pool and failing miserably because he's actually not that good a player. Then he tries to bluff his way out of it, before the intended mark drags the kid out the back.

It's not his problem. He's got enough of those on his own. He's not a nice man.

So when he rises to his feet and follows them out, it's not about doing the right thing. He just happened to be heading that direction, and if he can beat someone bloody on the way, well. Bully for him.

But when he gets there, the guy is on fire and the kid is grinning.

"Huh," he says. "That's interesting."

The kid whirls around, fingers flicking his direction, and some of the fire rushes toward him. He dodges, lunging for the kid, and grabs the kid's hands in his own. Instantly, the fire vanishes.

"Gotta learn better control, boyo," he says.

The kid's gaze is fearful. "What—what are you gonna do?" he asks. Can't be more than twelve, if that. Still brand-new to his ability, but clearly not to the big bad world.

"Anyone lookin' for you?" Studying the boy, it's obvious he's been alone for a while. At least a year. Maybe even before his ability manifested.

His eyes hardening, the kid tries jerking away. Flames stutter to life between his hands, but it's not enough.

"My name's Wade," he tells the boy. "What's yours?"

"John," the kid mutters. "Now _let me go_."

Wade smiles. "I like your spark," he says. "I think I'll keep you."

It'll be fun to have a sidekick for awhile. And if the kid gets too annoying, there's that bald dude starting up a school in New York.


	7. from the ashes

**Title**: from the ashes

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: spoilers for X3

**Pairings**: mentions of Iceman/Rogue, implied Bobby/John

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 260

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: Pyro/Iceman, Family doesn't end with blood

* * *

Bobby has a split-second choice—leave John at Alcatraz and survive himself, or bring John with him, weighing him down, and try to get far enough away from what used to be Dr. Grey in time.

John's cold to the touch and Bobby is sorry for that. Maybe if he'd chased John back at Alkali Lake—maybe be could've changed this. Kept him from Magneto's slimy grasp.

John isn't all that heavy; he'd always been smaller than Bobby. He never ate enough, even when Bobby'd been there to remind him. Left over from the street, Bobby thinks. Horde food away for the lean times.

Bobby hurries from the island, one of the last few to escape, and it's time for another decision. He can turn John over to the authorities as a criminal, as one of Magneto's generals. He can ask Storm for help—but she might just turn him over, anyway.

Or, in the confusion and turmoil, he can keep going into San Francisco. Just him and John, like back before Rogue entered their lives, back before everything went wrong.

He once thought of John as a brother. He doesn't use that comparison anymore because of Ronnie—

John jerks in his grip, fighting. It's how he's always woken up. Bobby quickly kneels down and releases him so there's not as far to fall.

"Bobby?" he asks, looking around in shock, hands raised to either strike or defend.

"Hey," Bobby says.

"What happened?" John demands, still ready for a fight.

"I chose," Bobby replies, waiting for John's decision.


	8. mothertongue

**Title**: mother-tongue

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: none

**Pairings**: implied John/Bobby

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 145

**Point** **of** **view**:

**Prompt**: Pyro/Iceman, John speaking with his Australian accent

* * *

It didn't take long on the street for John to suppress his accent. Anything that made him stand out was dangerous. No one is unique—that leads to being watched, or wanted, or collected.

At Xavier's, he never felt safe enough to show that side of himself. He was already enough of a freak for not being refined like the others. Most of them came from at least middleclass. They'd never had to survive.

Sometimes, when he was alone with Bobby, he'd use some of home's language. Let a little hint out, deepening the words.

And after Magneto, after running away with Bobby, going deep and becoming someone new, together, John finally decided he was done hiding. For years he'd sounded American. Thought of himself as American. So when he and Bobby went home, John shed that one last mask and let himself speak.


	9. inferno

**Title**: inferno

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: AU for X3

**Pairings**: none stated

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 420

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: Pyro/Iceman, even after John's death things mysteriously catch fire

* * *

After The Battle, Bobby doesn't leave his room for three weeks. Kitty and Rogue take turns bringing him food, but he never acknowledges them and only eats a few bites before rushing to the bathroom to vomit.

Finally, Logan busts in and drags him to the shower, shoves him under the water, and forcibly cleans him.

Bobby just closes his eyes and endures.

o0o

Sometimes, Bobby can almost hear—. Thoughts in his head he knows he wouldn't think. Comments springing to his tongue that he has to bite his lip to not say.

He still barely eats and never speaks, but he leaves the room now.

o0o

The first fire happens two months after The Battle. Bobby is outside, staring at the sky, a shark-shaped lighter in his hand. He flicks it open and closed, holding his finger just above the flame.

Suddenly, the flame leaps past him, going to a bush. Bobby jerks his head up, an exclamation nearly bursting out of him before he bites down the sound.

Someone screams and runs around the bush, staring at him with horror, then rushing back to the school.

Bobby watches her go; he doesn't even know who she is. But he's glad she's gone.

The fire fades and Bobby almost hears laughter.

o0o

Ten more fires in a span of two weeks. They follow Bobby around, and they go after people who bother him or crowd him.

Bobby hasn't used his ice since The Battle and he knows he's not controlling the fire. A couple times, he wishes the Professor or Dr. Grey were still around, to explain it to him.

But he figures he's got a pretty good idea.

o0o

The night he leaves, it storms. Whether that's actually Storm or not, he doesn't know. Or care. It's not like he'll freeze to death, anyway.

He can't stay anymore. He barely could after Alkali Lake. At least then, the Professor told him—

Bobby leaves with no food or money, with only the clothes on his back and a shark-shaped lighter in his hand. He walks through rain and it almost seems like someone's walking with him.

o0o

_Logan finds him a few days after he runs away. Brings him back for burial. He'd wasted away, starving himself until his body collapsed._.

Logan tells Storm that it seems like he just gave up.

Before they have a chance to put him in the ground, his body catches fire and even Storm can't douse the flames until there's nothing left but ashes


	10. where to go

**Title**: where to go

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: pre-X2

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG  
**Wordcount**: 80

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: Pyro/Iceman, running away together

* * *

"C'mon, man, you tellin' me you wanna be a lapdog for the rest of your life?"

Bobby doesn't look up from his book. "John," he says calmly, turning the page. "I'm happy here."

John scoffs and throws himself on his bed. "It's boring."

Gently setting the book aside, Bobby looks over, at John spread out on the bed, one arm across his face. It _is_ boring. And Bobby owes him for that prank on Logan.

"Where'd you wanna go?" he asks.


	11. I'll be seeing you

**Title**: I'll be seeing you

**Fandom**: X-Men movieverse

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: none

**Pairings**: none stated

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 150

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: Pyro/Iceman, even though they're enemies now, John would never reject Bobby

* * *

It's after Alcatraz and The Cure and being able to touch Rogue, after the Professor and Dr. Grey die, after The Cure fails and Magneto's a threat again.

Bobby's spent the better part of the last decade chasing after John. They were brothers—better than, considering Ronny—and friends, and Bobby just… misses him.

He carried John from Alcatraz. Kept him away from the soldiers and the cops, and even the X-Men until John woke up, and he left before John realized he was there.

It's after a lifetime of being the good guy. Being dependable and nice and so sickeningly sweet he wants to barf.

He doesn't belong at the school anymore. He should have left when John did.

Bobby doesn't say goodbye to anyone. He lets his instincts lead him and when he winds up at what had been John's favorite hang-out, he settles in a corner and waits.


	12. pride

**Title**: pride

**Fandom**: Origins Wolverine

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: AU for ending

**Pairings**: none stated

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 155

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: Wolverine Origins, Logan/Victor, Victor takes Logan in after he loses his memory

* * *

"Jimmy!" he roars, seeing Stryker standing over Jimmy's prone form.

Stryker whirls, but Victor is on him, ripping him apart. By the time he's done spreading Stryker's body around, Jimmy is stirring. Victor wipes the blood from his mouth on his sleeve and crouches over his brother, waiting to see what, if any, affect Stryker's bullet had.

When Jimmy's eyes open, there is no recognition. He looks at Victor and there is nothing in his gaze.

Well, that's interesting.

"Jimmy," Victor says, "we have to go."

Jimmy says, "I don't know who you are." He lifts a hand to his head, to where the bullet went in. There isn't even a mark, only blood.

"I'm your brother," Victor tells him. "C'mon." He stands, offering Jimmy a hand.

When Jimmy grasps his fingers, Victor pulls him up.

Jimmy follows him off the island, and Victor swears that this time, he'll keep his brother by his side.


	13. phoenix arising

**Title**: phoenix arising

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: movieverse

**Pairings**: implied John/Bobby

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**:110

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: Pyro/Iceman, Do yourself a favor, save yourself, don't pick me, find someone else

* * *

The tiny flame is bright ball of heat in his palm. He stares at it, designing funny shapes, wondering if that will make him feel better.

It doesn't. Big shock there.

Alcatraz is miles behind him, nearly a lifetime away. He should stop playing with fire before someone notices, but it's not like he can get burned. He's never been burned by fire.

He has been burned by other things, though. He'd heard people describe a cold so sharp it felt like flame, and he understands that now.

_Bobby_...

Any chance he might've had got ripped apart with Alcatraz, and John—_Pyro_—can only think that's for the best.


	14. the daylight is lit

**Title**: the daylight is lit with more volatile light

**Fandom**: White Collar/X-Men

**Disclaimer** : not my characters; title from Whitman

**Warnings**: somewhat AU

**Pairings**: pre-Neal/Peter

**Rating**: PG  
**Wordcount**: 320

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: White Collar/X-Men; Neal, Peter, Any; Neal's a mutant.

**Notes**: I've been reliably informed Neal's power is impossible. *shrugs*

* * *

There's a criminal. And there's an FBI Special Agent. And over there, in a fabulous hat, is another criminal who helps the FBI catch bad guys.

The first criminal has a gun pointed at the second. The FBI Special Agent sets his at his feet and puts his hands on his head, following the orders of a man who won't hesitate to kill.

The first criminal and the FBI Special Agent are human. They are only dangerous with a weapon in hand or sufficiently pissed off and within reach of their target.

The second criminal... he's a bit different.

It's not even that cool of a power. Some mutants can change their shape or fly or move quicker than light. Professor X, he can read and control minds. Uncle Erik can control metal, which is much more handy than anyone realizes. He and Neal had spent an entire afternoon detailing what controlling metal can _actually_mean. It's scary, when thought about for too long.

The criminal (Carl Gregor, owes serious money, conned it out of retirees, has killed before and is totally okay with doing it again) licks his lips and jerks around to shoot Peter.

And _that_. Well.

Gregor pulls the trigger. Neal focuses on the gun, on the energy about to explode of it, and makes it _stop_.

The gun explodes. Gregor will be lucky to keep his arm, but his wrist and hand are completely destroyed, and shards may be in his chest, neck, and face. (A few may have gone into his eyes. Neal totally didn't tell them to.)

Uncle Erik can control metal. And during that afternoon discussion, they may have talked about a bit more than Uncle Erik's potential strength.

Peter fusses over Neal for a second, then checks on Gregor. Neal thinks about the energy in Gregor's heart, and then decides to let him keep breathing.

He didn't actually hurt Peter, after all.


	15. phoenix ascending

**Title**: phoenix ascending

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: AU somewhere between the first two movies

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 175

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: Author's Choice, any/any, wildfires

* * *

The world burns, roaring and hissing, heat blasting him from all sides.

He stands in the midst of a wildfire, commanding it to _burn, burn it down, burn it all_.

He watches, letting the flame caress him, moving into the touch, dancing.

_burn_

The monsters who made him, who took him and broke him, who wanted a weapon and got one beyond all control.

_burn it down_

Everybody who stood back and watched, who let it happen, who walked on by and ignored his cries, his pleas, his corpse on the ground.

_burn it all_

From the flames, he rises.

In the fire, he laughs, and lashes out, and he is inescapable, he is endless, he is fire and he is _burning burning burning the world_.

(They call his name, those who let him go. They call his name, and they cry, and he smiles, he _roars_, because the boy they call to is dead and burnt beyond recognition, and a predator, a master, stands in his place.

Long live the phoenix. Burn it all.)


	16. Won't you sometimes think of me?

**Title**: Won't you sometimes think of me?

**Fandom**: Glee/X-Men

**Disclaimer**: not my characters; title from Emmylou Harris

**Warnings**: takes place in season 1

**Pairings**: none

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 325

**Point of view**: third

**Prompt**: Kurt is a mutant. Writer's choice as to what power he has, but I'd like it to be invisible (i.e. not like Mystique or Beast) and preferably not telepathy. He deals with the prejudice not only against homosexuals but also against mutants.

* * *

The only good thing he's found about his 'power' is that it's easy to hide. Easier than his orientation, easier than tears, easy as breathing.

Hah. Breathing.

He's been lucky so far, that none of the bullies noticed. He's thought about going to the police, telling Dad. Screaming it at those stupid children who (hopefully) have no idea they went too far.

If Kurt hadn't had his power, he'd be dead. Suffocated on accident. Ever since then, he's actively looked to be bullied, so if they ever go too far again, it'll happen to him.

Accelerated healing is one thing; broken bones heal in minutes, and he doesn't exactly feel pain, so it's not hard to keep people from realizing his 'bruised' wrist actually snapped. But not needing to breathe...

Well.

Physically, he hasn't hurt since he was twelve. It wasn't until he was fifteen and Puck shoved his face into his own jacket, saturated with urine, that he realized he wasn't breathing.

He should be dead. Sometimes, he thinks he might be. He's considered experimenting with his capabilities. Jumping off things. Cutting other things. Seeing how far he can push himself before he breaks. He's pretty sure he won't reach that point, but the fear of being wrong… he can't do that to Dad.

Dad doesn't know. That the bullying is very physical. That Kurt should be dead twice over. That Kurt can't feel pain, and heals, and can hold his breath for years.

That Kurt isn't just gay, he's a mutant freak. Dad doesn't care about the gay, so Kurt wants to believe he wouldn't care about the mutant part, either.

But he isn't sure. The glee club might not care, either, but he's heard Quinn and Mercedes talking, heard Mr. Schue's offhand comments, listened to the whole world talk about freaks and monsters. Being mutant is worse than being gay.

So he just holds his head high and pretends to breathe.


	17. fire and ice

**Title**: fire and ice

**Disclaimer**: not my characters

**Warnings**: AU for X2

**Pairings**: implied Pyro/Iceman

**Rating**: PG

**Wordcount**: 65

**Point** **of** **view**: third

**Prompt**: X-Men, Pyro/Iceman, both are with Magneto

* * *

John doesn't say the words. Bobby hears them anyway.

_Come with me. Fire and ice, like that poem. I know you remember. Come with me._

Rogue grabs for Bobby's hand, but his fingers slip right through her glove as he steps forward.

Bobby doesn't say the words. John hears them anyway.

_Of course. Can't have one without the other._

They step into the snow, side-by-side and smiling.


	18. it's the war not us that's moving

Title: it's the war not us that's moving

Fandom: X-Men movieverse/Supernatural

Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Adrienne Rich

Warnings: pre-series for Supernatural

Pairings: none

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 570

Point of view: third

Prompt: Sam's power is a mutant power, not a demon power.

* * *

When Dean figures it out, he looks at Sam with wide eyes, mind a complete blank until Sam begs, "Don't tell Dad."

.

So, Sam's dreams sometimes come true. And while he's awake. That's not such a big deal. Yeah, his head hurts after _those_ dreams, but they're able to pass it off as migraines (which he's too young for, but Dad's got so much on his plate, he doesn't realize that) and nightmares.

The telekinesis, though… they can only hide that for so long.

.

"Two powers?" Dean grumps, crossing his arms and glowering at Sam. "That's not fair, dude. You're hogging 'em all for yourself."

"You want 'em?" Sam shoots back with his own glare. "Take them."

Dean rolls his eyes.

.

Sam's either too young or too old for his abilities to manifest; Dean's intel isn't all that clear. The more he researches, though, the happier he is Sam's powers are invisible. For a day, he considers taking Sam to New York, asking that school for help –

But no. Sam's his little brother, and he's not abandoning him anywhere. Sam's getting plenty enough training; Dean's woven it into their PT, and Dad's gone enough he doesn't notice.

For awhile.

.

On Sam's second hunt, when he's barely fifteen, he tosses a ghost away from where it had been hovering over Dean, digging its ghost-hands into his chest.

Dad doesn't react, then. He and Sam finish the hunt while Dean gasps for breath, hunched over and shaking, and Dad's silent all the way out of town, and for fifty miles after that.

Then he says, "What happened back there?"

Sam glances over at Dean. They're huddled together in the back seat, even though Sam's pretty sure they're too old for that now, and Dean's eyes are barely open. His body's still shuddering sporadically.

"What do you mean?" Dean asks anyway. Stubborn idiot. He'll keep trying to protect Sam while he's bleeding out or unconscious, but Sam's got power now.

"You know what I mean," Dad says, sounding – tired.

"I can… I'm a mutant, Dad," Sam blurts, ignoring Dean's fingers digging into his side, trying to make him shut up. They've been hiding and lying for almost four years, now, and Sam's practically perfected control. (Well, of the telekinesis, anyway. The visions still show up whenever they want.)

Dad sighs, low and sad. "Oh, boys," he whispers, shaking his head.

"You can't send him away!" Dean shouts, sitting up straight and gasping in pain, falling backwards.

"You _idiot_!" Sam snaps, gently guiding him back upright. "Stay _still_."

"Of course I'm not sending him away," Dad says once Dean's breathing is back under control. "We'll discuss this later."

Dean's eyes close as he slumps back against the seat. Sam rests a hand over his heart and feels it race.

.

Precognition, telekinesis – John wishes he could believe that's all it is.

But telekinesis doesn't bother ghosts. He's seen mutants try and end up dead. And after a little bit of questioning, it becomes obvious – to John, anyway, though considering what he hasn't told them, he can't blame the boys for not realizing – that all of Sam's 'visions' revolve around the fucker who killed Mary. Or other 'mutants' who survived a house-fire.

Dean's sacked out with Sam mostly asleep next to him, and John rests his head in his hands. Fuck.

Sammy's not a mutant. Life would be so much simpler if he was.


End file.
